Stockland submits to shake-up

Stockland
is restructuring following the resignation of Siobhan Toohill as general manager of corporate responsibility and sustainability.

The property group said in mid-May it would cut about 30 staff from support functions and modify reporting lines from July.

A company spokeswoman said the latest round of structural changes would not affect the number of redundancies, the restructure was ongoing and further modifications could be expected in coming weeks.

Stockland has been under pressure in recent months. Its share price has partly recovered since a downgrade to its earnings guidance in the residential property division at the end of March. An analyst said it made sense for the business to strip staff from its ranks to reduce overhead costs, as its operations were reducing in size.

Redundancies announced so far include executive general manager of corporate affairs, Karyn Munsie, who was paid $1.21 million in the year to June 2011, and chief risk officer, Craig Calder.

The latest changes will further segregate business units reporting to chief executive, residential,
Mark Hunter
. The new business units will be called Sustainable Communities and Stakeholder Relations.

“The changes aim to harness the collective capability and expertise of our business unit sustainability teams for the benefit of the broader Stockland group," Mr Hunter said in an email to staff on Wednesday.

Sustainable Communities will incorporate Urban and Product Design, Community Development and Partnerships, Economic Development and Partnerships and the Environment, and will be led by Ben Allen as general manager.

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External communications will be shifted to report to Mr Hunter, rather than Stockland managing director
Matthew Quinn
, as was announced to staff last month.

It will be included in the stakeholder relations business unit with government relations, regulatory and industry relations and media relations. Senior manager of external communications Michelle Taylor has been promoted to lead that team.

Investor relations will continue to report directly to Mr Quinn.

Mr Allen and Ms Taylor will meet with existing team members by June 15 to finalise the structure. Changes will take effect from July 2.

Ms Toohill had been with Stockland since 2003 and will finish at the end of the month.